In-Process Testing

Atomica offers the ability to adapt our tests to fit our customers’ specific application needs. The immediate feedback reduces development time and improves process optimization. Ultimately, this leads to faster time to market and higher yield.

Testing is critical to MEMS fabrication. Ultimately, Atomica needs to deliver wafers or devices that meet customer specifications. In order to do so, we need to test devices and control processes using metrology and other failure analysis techniques.

Metrology and Failure Analysis

The ability to obtain characteristics and measurements of devices and materials helps in verifying wafer processing and failure analysis. Atomica’s comprehensive metrology capability allows us to measure cross-section, CDs, thickness, width, optical, roughness, reflectivity, composition, etc. The following lists some of the capabilities at Atomica:

  • Odin Unity
  • Woollam M-2000 Ellipsometer
  • Accretech 200R – prober
  • Nanotronic S 200MM
  • FEI dual beam FIB/SEM with EDX
  • IVS 200 overlay measurement
  • Tencor surface profilers
  • CDE Resmap (sheet resistance)
  • Kevex automated XRF
  • SurfScan particle detection system
  • Digital Instruments AFM
  • Filmetrics spectrophotometers
  • Nicolet FTIR
  • FLEX 2320R BOW_STRESS TEST
  • Wyko non-contact surface profiler
  • High-volume automated optical linewidth measurement system with pattern recognition

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Automated Electric Probing

In-process electrical testing of wafers includes various measurements, such as:

  • Capacitance
  • Resistance
  • Inductance
  • Isolation
  • High potential

Having this knowledge enables saving costs of producing devices. The end customer would only receive known-good-dies. Atomica also offers reliability, environmental, and life testing, as well as other custom testing specific to individual customer’s applications.

Why Atomica?

  1. Largest US MEMS Foundry

    Atomica serves its customers from a 13-acre, 130,000 ft2 manufacturing campus (including a 30,000 ft2 class 100 cleanroom) in Santa Barbara, California. We operate over 400 sophisticated 150mm and 200mm tools and are ISO 9001 and ITAR certified. This makes us the largest independent MEMS fab in the United States, well-positioned to support the growing demand for domestic production of critical sensors, photonics, and biochips.

  2. Unique collaborative methodology to ensure program success

    At Atomica, we are resolved to help our customers bring their innovations to life using our proven phase-gate process to successfully navigate the challenges of design, development, prototype, scale-up, and high-volume production. Our multi-disciplinary team of scientists and manufacturing engineers tackles the hardest process development and integration challenges with an eye toward manufacturability (DFM). Our methodology entails rigorous project management to optimize resources, mitigate risks, and deliver predictable results.

  3. Extraordinary engineering expertise

    Atomica has over 20 years of experience commercializing technologies that change the future. Our extensive experience spans the full spectrum of MEMS, including photonics, sensors, microfluidic biochips, and other micro components. We have over 20 Phds on-site and we’ve worked on hundreds of programs to date. You could say we’ve seen it all. This experience combined with our volume production facility help ensure customers get to market fast with the highest chance of commercial success.

  4. Exceptional flexibility in materials and project types

    Atomica has a versatile and flexible engagement model. We are able to engage using our standard processes or provide bespoke, custom process development. We will consider programs of many sizes, as long as they hold promise to have an impact on the world once they reach production. Atomica also is able to handle a very broad range of materials providing access to an extensive set of processes and materials unavailable in CMOS fabs, including noble metals, polymers, and virtually any substrate (e.g., silicon, SOI, glass, fused silica, quartz, borosilicate, piezos, and III-V).